A GROUP of Thomasian artists celebrated their 40th founding anniversary through an open-themed exhibit held from Aug. 21 to Sept. 1 at the SM Megamall Art Center.
Grupong Tomasino, a group of fine arts alumni established in 1982, organized the “In the Fullness of Time” exhibit that showcased their paintings and the unique styles they developed in the past two years during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among the featured artists were Grupong Tomasino’s founding members, Danilo Santiago and Gil Santos.
Santiago, an eclectic painter and former chair of the UST College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD) painting program, displayed two of his 22 x 28 in. oil paintings titled “Hope and Resiliency” and “Sa mga Bisig ni Ina.”
“Hope and Resiliency” features agricultural elements found in Filipino culture and accentuates a woman, an image usually found in Santiago’s works, holding a banana leaf like a flag.
Meanwhile, “Sa mga Bisig ni Ina” depicts the comfort of a mother’s arms.
Santos, former head of the interior design department, exhibited two 36 x 36 in. oil paintings from his “TRUTH or LIES” series, namely: “TRIUMVIRATE” and “Reinkarnation eines Fuhrers” (Reincarnation of Great Leaders).
“The linear elements in both paintings are incorporated to serve as leader lines and guides for the story flow and interpretation,” Santos explained to the Varsitarian.
“TRIUMVIRATE” features Dante Alighieri, Charles Darwin, and Constantine the Great, whom Santos said were three outstanding historical personalities because their works still affect culture and beliefs today.
With “Reinkarnation eines Fuhrers,” Santos challenges his viewers to “re-think, study and analyze if the belief in reincarnation has a biblical foundation.”
Asst. Prof. Mary Ann Venturina-Bulanadi, the exhibit’s curatorial consultant and a CFAD professor, said she was happy to hold the exhibition again in person.
“Face-to-face truly is different. Iba yung makakausap, makakamusta mo mga tao, at makikita mo [ang] mga obra nila,” Venturina-Bulanadi told the Varsitarian.
The curation of the annual exhibit was headed by CFAD painting program chair Pedro Felix Garcia II. It was organized by the CFAD painting program and the Atelier Alumni Association in cooperation with the Blue Matiz Art Gallery. Allyssa Mae C. Cruz
